Friday, April 22, 2011

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Save a horse, ride a pivot


But only if you're not in a hurry. Its top speed is something like 0.42 mph.

Monday, April 18, 2011

End posts

Part of the trellis system includes bright yellow end posts for stability.


The florescent yellow color is important because it's easy to see after dark--an instructive detail that says a lot about the rhythm of life on a vineyard.

Sunday, April 17, 2011

This full moon

We are firm believers that weird things can happen on a full moon. Tonight was no exception.

As we were checking on the new pivot that irrigates what will be our organic peanuts, we saw our first feral hog. It had found a puddle of water from the sprinkler and was in no mood to leave thank you very much.


Now we know lots of reasons to be wary of such creatures. Our neighbor, for example, was attacked by a pack of feral hogs. This is one of the reasons we are armed at all times while on the vineyard.

But tonight I'm going to believe in the glass-half-full side of things. In ancient Egypt, sows specifically--which this one was--were symbols of fertility and abundance. The Greeks sacrificed pigs to the gods of farming and agriculture in order to secure bumper crops. And in Native American cultures, the pig is a harbinger of rain.

All good omens in my book. And goodness knows we especially need the rain.


So thank you, moody feral hog. We appreciate you visiting our peanut circle and the symbolism it entails.

Just please be gone by tomorrow or we're going to have a bigger problem.